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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Disclosure: These products were purchased by me. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. I am not being compensated for any content included in this post.

I bought the Whats Up Nails "Jumbo Clear Jelly Stamper & Scraper (Transparent with Cap) on a whim, but it is now my favorite stamper. You can find it here. I have the original and space collection Creative Shop stampers, Born Pretty Store stampers, UberChic XL Clear stamper, and a couple off-brands. It does have a couple design quirks, but none that inhibit my desire to use it. It is fantastically squishy! I know squish-factor can be preferential, but this feature makes picking up fine lines and small details easy. For the fast-and-short review list, skip ahead. For the detailed review, continue reading!

I've used this on three different branded plates and it picked up without issue each time. For this post I used the Bundle Monster "BM-S112: Paisley Flow Nail Art Manicure Stamping Plate - Thriving Tribal." I only use tape and/or lint roller to clean the stamping head, so I haven't washed the head with soap or water. It has a slight stickiness to the stamper, but just enough to help design pickup. Please note you should store the sticky stamper head in a sealed plastic bag separate from the base when not in use. When I just stored it with the cap, the head did dry out some and lose stickiness after a few days. Part of this is because the cap isn't a perfect seal and the interior is just air-filled. I found that when I had not sealed the stamper head in plastic, my pickups weren't as good and I had to store the stamper head for awhile before it was ready for use again. It is still my favorite stamper, but it does perform better with stamping polishes or polishes that are dense (i.e. SuperChic Lacquer's One-Coat Holos). It will pick up regular opaque cream polishes, but it may take a few attempts if the stamper head has lost some stickiness.

When I first received it, the stamper head stuck inside the cap, but a piece of tape and wiggling released it. The stamper head was easy to put back in the base, but here is where the design of the base was almost perfect. There isn't a pronounced lip on the inside of the base for the stamper head edges to "rest" on when placed into the base. Occasionally if I applied more pressure when picking up/placing stamps one side would sink into the base a little. It only means having to wiggle it slightly to realign the stamper head, but when doing lots of stamping this can start to be annoying.

The stamper head is beautifully clear and the base is large enough that there is little distortion when viewing through the base, making placement simple. I have used this stamper for several full-manicures and one pedicure, almost never having issue picking up designs. The diameter of the stamper head is wide enough to pick up large designs which is fabulous for those with wide and/or long nails. It squishes against the nail comfortably so you can choose to either just squish down or roll when picking up and placing stamping designs. I tried both methods and found that there is very little difference for this stamper head. The base is comfortable to hold and easy to clean. The issue I have with the cap is that it is a bit tight, not enabling me to fully "close" the cap onto the base. If I pushed it down harder I'm not sure if I could get it off again without damaging the stamper. I adore this stamper and it functions better than any other stamper I own. I would definitely be purchasing this again in future.

The Fast-n'-Flourish Review List:
Pros:
~Fantastically squishy, making picking up fine lines and small details easy
~Slight stickiness which helps stamp pickup
~Works well with different branded plates
~Doesn't require priming
~Has cap for coverage, though not recommended as substitute for longterm storage (use sealed plastic bag)
~If stamping head slips from base, it is easy to re-position
~Easy visibility with minimal distortion
~Diameter wide enough to pick up large designs, which is fabulous for those with wide and/or long nails
~Equal results from squishing straight down or rolling for pickup and/or placement of stamping designs
~Base is comfortable to hold

Cons:
~Cap fits tightly onto base, not fully closing and may cause stamper head to stick to cap if pushed too hard
~No lip inside base for stamping head to "rest" on, leading to slight slippage when heavier pressure is applied. Though this isn't a deal-breaker, a slight design change would solve this issue.